Dan Le Sac vs Madonna Ciccone: update

facebook campaigns

when i originally suggested a collaboration between Madonna and Dan Le Sac i also debated the usefullness of whacking up a facebook page in support of my idea

perhaps i should have moved on it at the time, instead of letting my idea waft around the many empty corridors of the webnets that few people venture down

i still, for one, think it is a bloody great idea, and i'd like more people to know that i think it is a great idea

i'd like record company bigwigs and Madonna's hair and make-up artists to know that i think it is a bloody great idea, even if they don't agree

i'd like the word to eventually get back to Madonna, who will then completely embrace the possibillity...

but maybe first it should be best to aim a little lower and actually let Dan Le Sac know how i feel, even tho i doubt he has Madonna on speed dial, i do believe that it is far more likely i could spark his attention long before it is on the Queen of Pop's radar

perhaps right now is the kind of time that i need a twitter account, as aren't these the type of things that are worthy of retweeting, and everybody tweets and retweets and follows Dan Le Sac, right?
alas i am not yet ready for dipping my toes in that world of little blue birds and barely existent sentences

and since my little opinion piece on a possible Le Sac vs Madonna collabo has just seen print in the Enfield Advertiser, and i have also given it a chance to breath over at glasswerk, now seems a sensible time to heavily enforce the second wave , and see if anyone actually agrees with me...


so, for your consideration.....

please feel free to 'like' the officially unofficial facebook fanpage of Dan Le Sac vs Madonna Ciccone

DAVID LYNCH - I Know [dls doesn't know Remix] by danlesac

are record companies finally getting something right?

ever since Lars Ulrich put down his drumsticks and picked up the phone to start ringing his lawyer, it seems that record labels have been several evolutionary steps behind the rest of the world as music, and the way it has been consumed and marketed, has drastically mutated in the late 20th century since the catalyst of Napster changed things forever

but this week it was reported that two of the big boys, Universal and Sony Music (who between them boast the likes of Lady Gaga, Foo Fighters, Kanye West, Kings Of Leon, Rihanna and Susan Boyle amongst their top flight artists) have announced a new policy that will see singles available for immediate download to coincide with the new release debuting on radio.
which finally makes some sense, this can only have a positive effect for the coffers of the music industry, providing that it isn't already too late to reverse the illegal downloading habits of certain individuals.

of course, it was always the case that a song would hit radio long before it's physical release, meaning that those unlucky enough to be exposed to one of the FM frequencies throughout their working day would be completely sick of a tune they once liked by the time everyone else has had the chance to go out and get it into the charts.

and if you desired a single before its eventual release, the best you could do before was to have your cassette deck all ready to go in the hope that you'd catch your new favourite song being played, praying that the DJ wouldn't talk all over it, and then patiently wait for the tape or CD to hit the shelves of Woolies.

but those days are long behind us now.

along with the aforementioned cassettes, CDs and Woolworths, release dates have become a thing of the past, because in this digital age, if you want to look for it, it can usually be found, and when Fearne Cotton politely informs you that the song you just heard won't be out for two months, well.... you're just gonna have to download it illegally then aren't you...

Sony Music chairman and CEO Ged Doherty, seems to have got the message, confirming that "we live in an age of immediacy", while Universal Music's UK CEO David Joseph agreed, commenting that "for a lot of our younger fans and consumers the word 'wait' is no longer in the vocabulary."

"You hear something and want it. And if you search for it then you’ve got to make sure there is a legal site for that appetite." concluded Joseph.

And doing occasional turns as a DJ, I couldn't agree more, hearing a banging choon makes me want to take it out and share it, yet the medieval system of lengthy release dates makes it impossible to obtain the track legitimately and simply being restricted to songs that have already been released only serves to dilute the thrill of introducing people to new music and trying to give them something they may not have heard before.

it is quite likely that this will be too little too late to change the opinions and habits of those that don't want to pay for their music, and is unlikely to stem the tide of piracy that has been hurting major labels in their pockets, but at least it is finally a sensible, albeit delayed, decision from a couple of the major players in the industry.

Grenade (Bruno Mars cover) by Anhayla

The Freewheelin' Troubadour

a man with interests very close to my own heart has been following his dreams and desires to creatively produce works for anyone willing to pay attention to them.

The Freewheelin' Troubadour's latest venture has been publishing a collection of poetry accompanied by visuals contributed by a select number of artists.

made available for free, "Freewheelin’ in Monument Valley & the American Offerings" can be downloaded as a pdf, with a limited number of books also circulating, thanks to the generosity of those that donated towards the costs of publication.

the project was helped to fruition with a fundraising gig in August, and the finished article was celebrated with another night of music and poetry in October, both gigs curated by and featuring readings from the Troubadour himself, held at The Victoria in Mile End.

Originally hailing from Enfield himself, by his 20s, Dion Power had been displaced in Cheshunt where he began conversing in the musical circles that were enriching the current Hertford scene, eventually finding himself managing bands and DJing.

When The Freewheelin' Troubadour persona originally surfaced it was of a poetic soul, and his prose was featured on his own myspace blogs.

but owing his adopted namesake to Bob Dylan and surrounded by local musicians, such as The Knaves and The Black Tricks, it would not be long before these ideas were realised musically and a sole CD  entitled '10 minutes of darkness' was composed alongside a number of borrowed band members and was distributed in 2007, before a similar vision found form in late 2008 when the Freewheelin Troubadour began fronting his own band that sadly proved to be shortlived.

What followed was a soul searching road trip across America that found creativity reaching new heights via an amassed sense of freedom and an abundance of new found inspirations, and it is the poems from these few months that make up the short collection, "Freewheelin’ in Monument Valley & the American Offerings".

His return to London began with a search for somewhere to live, continued with looking for willing collaborators, and with the book now launched, The Freewheelin Troubadour is still searching for means and ventures to make his voice heard, whether it is through spoken word readings, organising gigs or an upcoming documentary that will be a testament to everything achieved so far.


to download your own copy of the book, head to to the funpowder plot

and as an extra treat, here is also a rarity for you, my own remix of The Night That I Die, the original of which was on the 2007 CD '10 minutes of darkness'

The Freewheelin' Troubadour - The Night That I Die (Hunchbakk Remix) 

Orphan Boy's 'lost' album

can you believe NME stuck out another list feature t'other week??

well i can, one week into the new year and their first issue is yet another bloody list!

admittedly, this time i was a little intrigued to see what was going on tho, The 100 Greatest Albums You've Never Heard didn't seem to be their usual tack and it seemed to hold a lot of potential to actually be an interesting rundown

still unwilling to take such a stupid risk and stick my hand in my pocket for a copy, i instead headed off to the library, that actually let you hang around, even sit down, and enjoy a selection of current magazines (screw you mr Newsagent, and your 'this is not a library' Apu-isms)

and while i was expecting to find a bunch of musos educating the uneducated on a plethora of albums that for some reason or another never actually got released, what i instead found was quite a well informed countdown that had been contributed to by NME writers and rock stars alike, all revealing their own personal favourite albums that are likely to have slipped under most people's radars

yes, it is still another list that has been cobbled together, and with celebrity contributers it has probably meant that the NME writers have put even less effort in that usual, but regardless, it actually held up as an informative issue, and it was interesting to dip into and flick through, especially when there were a handful of modern choices among them

i was pleasantly surprised to see Clor topping the list (tho i'm not sure if the placings actually had any real relevance) and at 57 was another band name that rang a bell

Orphan Boy's 2008 album, Shop Local had been picked out by someone i forget now... and i couldn't fathom for a little while why the band's name sounded so familiar, i didn't remember following the band at all and continued scratching my head

but then it came to me, that i still have this very album tucked away somewhere among all the other CDs that didn't excite me very much, that had been sent to me from glasswerk to review

the album hadn't had much of an impact on me, but its inclusion in the 'lost' list intrigued me and had me questioning my own judgement, so having dug the album out and given it another spin, perhaps it is due a second opinion

afew tracks in and i wasn't exactly offended by it, but nor was i thrilled, it sounded very standard indie fare that was unlikely to set the world alight...

so what exactly did i have to say about it first time around tho?

a quick google pulled up....

'The more you are subjected to, the fewer bands sound truly original, and perhaps that is exactly the point with this album, a repeat listen reveals very strong influences and sonic identities that can be traced back to a lineage of Great British bands including The Clash, Oasis, Sex Pistols and Arctic Monkeys, to name but a few.

Strummer style vocals. Alex Turner style delivery. Ramshackle Libertine-esque guitars. A Kooks pop sensibility. The list goes on. and on.

Lazy comparisons they may be but its far from a negative review for the band, many of the tracks on here are deserving of ‘stand-out’ status but the album seems to get lost within itself as tracks charge off in different directions, pulling the album apart instead of finding a focus'

and i must admit, that even with the passing of time, and a re-evaluation given recent light, i couldn't agree more with my initial review, some tracks are big enough to have found them a place on rock n rolls map alongside The Courteeners, but it just wasn't meant to be...

Orphan Boy - Satellites available on the album Shop Local

is it too late to moan about matt cardle?

muchos congratulations are in order for Biffy Clyro, who in the year of our Lord two thousand and ten, managed to land themselves the verily celebrated Christmas number 1 slot

except somebody else was actually singing their song, and he was at number one


so unless you've been living under a rock as big as Simon Cowell's ego, you should be well aware of Matt Cardle and his gawd-awful rendition of Many of Horror

oh, hang, it's When We Collide is it? i'm sorry, i was mistaken


not that it matters a jot but i am not happy about this

and i think it was the wrong choice for a number of reasons

first off, it sounds terrible, and to be honest i think that should have actually been the final decision made, it is a terrible version of the song, full stop. end of discussion.

except i shall discuss a little further, seriously, if Monsieur Cardle had played it straight and given us an off-the-bat acousticy version then perhaps i may have been a little more forgiving, but squeeling the song and bringing in a rather obvious attempt at a 'large' x-factor chorus was just a stretch too far and the whole thing tumbles down because of it

perhaps this cover version was supposed to bolster Cardle's 'real' credentials and work an angle not yet exhausted by x-factor winners, attempting to secure those 'real' music fans deluded and foolish enough to continuously watch week in and week out yet couldn't give a flying toss about following the eventual winner's newly launched career... if only i could believe that Dannii Minogue and Matt Cardle spent evenings in the judges house blasting out Only Revolutions, arguing whether Puzzleis superior to Infinity Landand discussing whether Living's A Problem Because Everything Dies would be a good choice for the live finals

and the most convincing argument i could possibly make for this crime against music is the entirely debauched ill-fit of the whole thing, those that know Biffy Clyro also know of their struggles and their resilience against the turgid tide of the music industry, being one of the rare breed of bands that grew naturally away from the glaring eyes of fat-cat label bosses intent on profitability and only found mainstream success with their fourth album, slowly and steadily cultivating a fanbase that has taken them from cult-favourites to an arena-visiting touring schedule.



it is this hard-working ethic that sets Biffy Clyro apart from the overnight success guaranteed by the X-factor, but at the same time it also serves as a shining example of how far the Kilmarnock boys have come through years of persistence that has some how put them on Simon Cowell's radar and seen a single that entered the charts at the low end of the top 40 when it was originally released 11 months prior to the Christmas chart battle, landing at a rather respectable number 8, in addition to penning the festive season's chart topper and netting themselves a ridiculous pile of royalty cash from the surprisingly popular x-factor atrocity

and while it is hardly the circumstances that any Biffy fan would have reasonably envisioned, i couldn't possibly begrudge Biffy Clyro this current level of success (and ridiculous wealth)

Biffy Clyro - Living Is A Problem Because Everything Dies
available on the album Puzzle

dan le sac vs madonna ciccone

it is very rare that i can actually hear a music news story without sceptically presuming that it is a cleverly disguised piece of promo or plea for attention merely masquerading as 'news'

and it was with the same regard that i also held the recent story that Madonna announced via facebook that she was looking for the "maddest, sickest, most badass people to collaborate with"


my first instinct is that it is just a little fanfare to remind fans that she is still here, but then again, Madonna never really goes away does she? there hasn't been the neccesity of any hard-laboured comeback ever, Madonna is huge, she probably always will be, despite making mis-judged albums like Hard Candy with its rubbish lead single, its rubbish album cover and its eager attempt to bridge an urban market, everyone still wanted a piece of Madonna and the accompanying tour broke her own record of being the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, previouly held by her 2006 Confessions tour.


i then considered how Madonna had made the fortunes of William Orbit, Mirwais and Stuart Price, all artists that i was already aware of before she sent them sky-rocketing through the stratosphere and probably set them up for life, which got me wondering who she may actually collaborate with on the eventual album

i seriously can't imagine Madonna or Madonna's people fully embracing the mammoth task that such an open and public invitation would induce, anyone with a computer and a little bit of software can call themselves an artist or a producer, as i have proved, and the influx of submissions would be so overwhelming that i'm sure any real talent hoping to emerge would be drowned in a sea of mediocre or downright turgid, crap music.

most likely the new produce will already be known within the music industry, and i wouldn't be at all surprised if a cross-over dance artist such as Calvin Harris or Deadmau5 would be allowed to take the reigns on what will be Madonna's 12th studio album

now i seriosly doubt that my little blog holds any sway over the decisions that Madonna will be making, but if she is passing up on a Hunchbakk produced album, then i would suggest that perhaps she instead enlists the help of Mr Le Sac.


Dan Le Sac is possibly the producer i hold in the highest esteem, and the debut album with Scroobius Pip 'Angles' is an album i return to again and again, constantly and repeatedly fascinated and intrigued by the leftfield production and stuttering beats. And this year's follow up 'The Logic of Chance' builds on the sturdy foundations built by the first, with more forays into dance-centric synths, 8-bit squelches and 2010's obligigatory nod towards dubstep, once again thrown together in a fashion that sounds almost haphazard, yet probably took much fine tuning and crafting to achieve such loose sounding experimental brilliance.

and with Madonna's known flirtations with dance music, i think Dan Le Sac could be the perfect production foil to lead The Queen of Pop to new, groundbreaking territory if he was at the helm of her upcoming album.

in this day and age of facebook campaigns coming out of our ears as they all attempt to be the next big news-worthy, hype hungry movement to change the current status quo, i don't know if putting the idea forward into the social networking forum would be just a whisper lost among a million and one voices all shouting for attention, but then i also think that if i believe in something enough, then maybe, just maybe it would be worth giving it a go.


so my last note is a personal plea to Dan Le Sac, if i can make the difference and get your foot in the door with Miss Ciccone, perhaps you could show your gratitude by hooking a brother up with chance to record a handclap on the album that i shall be able to claim royalties for, or perhaps i could be an handsomely paid tea boy (as i do make a good cuppa if i do say so myself) or even just being the person that applies talcum powder to female dancers between costume changes on tour....



remember that i put you where you are (erm, where i hope to put you) so you know where to find me


cheers


stream Sick Tonight by Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip


available on the album The Logic of Chance

hail to the underdog

apparently 'history is written by the winners'

while it is big selling rock and pop stars that get to flood the radio, TV and music press, and then tell us all about it in liner notes and biographies released in the run up to Christmas, it just makes me wonder how many other creatives have gone virtually unheard, all those also-rans and ne'er-do-wells that never got to claim the spoils of victory or tell their tales

and it was this mentality that drove me to write my piece on Flo Kirton for the Enfield Advertiser, to give a voice to someone on the other side of the music industry, since your Qs and NMEs are already clogged up with the bands and artists that have made it  and your 'hot tips'

but what happens when the 'next big thing' doesn't get 'big'?

i want my columns to give a different scope from your usual music journalism, of course in a local paper i give a lot of time to local bands, it would be stupid not to, and there are many deserving bands knocking around Enfield, but so much is made of this fantastic future that we're living in, where more and more is available to us, that i want to expose the cracks in this ideal... just because the NME is telling you that 'the next big thing' recorded all their demos in their bedroom, it doesn't mean that Joe Goddard will be knocking down your door wanting to turn you into a popstar just because you own a PC and a little bit of music software

and you'll also find me dipping my toe into the other end of the spectrum, with a recent column on Cheryl Cole and a work in progress on Kanye West, and possibly a sideways glance at Justin Bieber.

but keep your eyes peeled for pieces on my agenda covering The Freewheelin Troubadour, 9BlinD and Deeds of the Dying and a look at the recording habits of Those Handsome Animals and Akira the Don, who recently unleashed a killer mixtape in conjuction with Joey 2tits as he builds towards the release of his second album proper.

 Pyke by Akira The Don stream only
available on the mixtape 'the kidnapping of Akira The Don By Joey 2tits'